3. The “DPR” and “LPR” – established, supported and effectively
controlled by the Russian Federation – are not legitimate under
Ukrainian or international law. This applies to all their “institutions”,
including the “courts” established by the de
facto authorities.

4. Under international law, the Russian Federation, which exercises de facto control over these territories, is
responsible for the protection of their populations. Russia must
therefore guarantee the human rights of all inhabitants of Crimea
and of the “DPR” and “LPR”.

5. Regarding Crimea, the Russian military presence and effective
control have been officially acknowledged by the Russian authorities.
In the “DPR” and the “LPR”, effective control is based on the crucial and
well-documented role of Russian military personnel in taking over
and maintaining power in these regions, against the determined resistance
of the legitimate Ukrainian authorities, and on the complete dependence
of these regions on Russia in logistical, financial and administrative
matters.

6. Both in Crimea and in the conflict zone in the Donbas region,
serious human rights violations have occurred, and are still occurring,
as documented by numerous reports from, inter
alia, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human
Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine,
the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine of the Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR), and leading Ukrainian and international
non-governmental human rights organisations. These violations include
extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture and inhuman
and degrading treatment, unlawful detentions and disproportionate restrictions
on the freedom of expression and freedom of information.

7. Victims of human rights violations have no effective internal
legal remedies at their disposal:

7.1. as
far as the residents of the “DPR” and “LPR” are concerned, local
“courts” lack legitimacy, independence and professionalism; the
Ukrainian courts in the neighbouring government-controlled areas,
to which jurisdiction for the non-controlled areas was transferred
by Ukraine, are difficult to reach, cannot access files left behind
in the “DPR” or “LPR” and cannot ensure the execution of their judgments in
these territories;

7.2. as far as the residents of Crimea are concerned, fear
of retribution affects the independence of the courts and, in particular,
the willingness of the police and the prosecution service to hold
to account perpetrators of crimes against perceived or actual Ukrainian
loyalists.

8. In Crimea, Ukrainians in general, and Crimean Tatars in particular,
live in a climate of severe intimidation created by the above-mentioned
human rights violations and the fact that they remain largely unpunished. Many
were forced to leave Crimea. In parallel, all inhabitants of Crimea
have been placed under immense pressure to obtain Russian passports
and renounce their Ukrainian nationality in order to have access
to health care, housing and other essential services. As a result
of the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
on banning the Mejlis and its local branches, the Crimean Tatars
have lost their traditional democratic representation. Tatar media
and the Tatar’s Muslim religious practices were also targeted. The cumulative
effect of these repressive measures is a threat to the Tatar community’s
very existence as a distinct ethnic, cultural and religious group.

9. Moreover, in accordance with reports of authoritative international
and non-governmental organisations (in particular Freedom House,
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many others), there
are signs of violations of the provisions of the International Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by the
Russian Federation in occupied Crimea as regards the Crimean Tatars.

10. In the conflict zone in the Donbas region, the civilian population
as well as a large number of combatants were subjected to violations
of their rights to life and physical integrity and to the free enjoyment
of property, as a result of war crimes and crimes against humanity
including the indiscriminate or even intentional shelling of civilian
areas, sometimes provoked by the stationing of weapons in close
proximity.

11. Numerous inhabitants of the conflict zone in the Donbas, on
both sides of the contact line, still suffer on a daily basis from
numerous violations of the ceasefire that was agreed in Minsk. These
violations are documented daily by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission
to Ukraine, despite the restrictions on access imposed mainly by
the de facto authorities of
the “DPR” and “LPR”. The inhabitants also suffer from the prevailing
climate of impunity and general lawlessness due to the absence of
legitimate, functioning State institutions, and in particular access
to justice in line with Article 6 of the European Convention on
Human Rights (ETS No. 5). They also endure severe social hardship
worsened by restrictive measures imposed by the Ukrainian authorities
regarding pension and social assistance payments. The legal and
humanitarian situation of ordinary detainees sentenced to prison
terms before the conflict (about 5 000 persons in the “LPR” alone)
is unacceptable: decisions by the Ukrainian judicial authorities
on early release (probation, amnesty) are routinely ignored by the de facto authorities, who subject
prison inmates to forced labour and various forms of inhuman and
degrading treatment. Finally, persons displaced from the “DPR” and
“LPR” face expropriation of the properties they left behind due
to the unlawful re-registration requirements imposed by the de facto authorities.

12. The Ukrainian authorities have begun prosecuting alleged perpetrators
of war crimes and other human rights violations on the side of pro-government
forces. The Assembly takes note of the constructive co-operation
of Ukraine with relevant international monitoring mechanisms, such
as the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman
and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the United Nations Subcommittee
on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment (SPT), in particular in the context of the SPT’s recent
visit to Ukraine, and calls on all parties involved to allow external
monitors regular and unhindered access to all places of deprivation
of liberty, in accordance with their mandates.

13. The Minsk Agreements include amnesty clauses for the participants
in the armed conflict in the Donbas region. The Assembly recalls
that, under international law, such clauses cannot justify impunity
for the perpetrators of serious human rights violations.

14. Regarding the elections foreseen in the Minsk Agreements,
the Assembly considers that as long as the present situation in
the “DPR” and “LPR”, characterised by a climate of insecurity, intimidation,
impunity and a lack of freedom of expression and freedom of information,
prevails, free and fair elections (as guaranteed by Article 3 of
the Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No.
9)) are not possible in these regions.

15. The Assembly regrets that neither the Russian Federation nor
Ukraine has ratified the Rome Statute establishing the International
Criminal Court (ICC), while noting that Ukraine has accepted the
ICC’s jurisdiction in its declarations of 17 April 2014 and 8 September
2015 under Article 12.3 of the Rome Statute. The Assembly welcomes
the changes to the Constitution of Ukraine, finally adopted by the
Ukrainian Parliament, by which the ratification of the Rome Statute
will be possible. At the same time, the Assembly is concerned that these
changes will only come into effect in three years, and not as soon
as possible, as was recommended by the Assembly.

16. The Assembly welcomes the activities of the Joint Investigation
Team (JIT) and its preliminary report of 28 September 2016 on the
criminal investigation into the downing of flight MH17 in Donbas.
The Assembly takes note of the JIT’s findings that flight MH17 was
shot down from territory controlled by Russian-backed militants
by a Buk missile system which had been brought in from the territory
of the Russian Federation and which was returned to the Russian
Federation after the launch. The Assembly calls on all parties involved
to co-operate fully with the criminal investigation in order to
bring those responsible to justice.

17. The Assembly therefore urges:

17.1. the competent authorities, both in Ukraine and in the
Russian Federation, to:

17.1.1. effectively investigate all
cases of serious human rights violations allegedly committed in
all areas under their effective control;

17.1.2. prosecute their perpetrators, thereby also discouraging
any such violations in future;

17.1.3. compensate their victims to the extent possible;

17.1.4. accede to the Rome Statute of the ICC;

17.1.5. fully implement the Minsk Agreements;

17.2. the Russian authorities to:

17.2.1. end their repressive
actions against people loyal to the Ukrainian authorities in all
areas under their effective control, including Crimea; in particular,
to restore the historical rights of the Crimean Tatar people and
to enable the re-establishment of the rule of law in the whole of
eastern Ukraine;

17.2.2. meanwhile, ensure the protection of the fundamental rights
of all inhabitants of the “DRP” and the “LPR” and the fulfilment
of their basic needs, and exercise their influence with the de facto authorities to this end;

17.2.3. facilitate the independent monitoring of the human rights
situation in all Ukrainian territories under their effective control,
including Crimea;

17.2.4. use all available legal means to repeal the decision of
the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to outlaw the Mejlis,
and to allow the Crimean Tatar people to choose their own self-governing
institutions;

17.2.5. ensure unrestricted access by representatives of international
organisations and consular officers of Ukraine to convicted persons
displaced from territories temporarily not under Ukrainian control
to penitentiary institutions in the territory of the Russian Federation;

17.2.6. transfer to Ukraine all convicted Ukrainian citizens who
express such a wish, so that they may serve the remainder of their
sentences in territories controlled by the Ukrainian authorities;

17.2.7. bring an end to the displacement from the territory of
Crimea to the territory of the Russian Federation of people that
do not have Russian citizenship – including those sentenced to imprisonment
– who have, whatever the circumstances, found themselves under the
control of the Russian Federation in Crimea;

17.3. the Ukrainian authorities to make easier, as far as is
in their power, the daily life of the inhabitants of the territories
outside of their control and of the displaced persons from these
areas by reducing administrative burdens in access to pensions and
social allowances and by facilitating the inhabitants’ access to
justice by adequately equipping and staffing the courts in government-controlled
areas to which jurisdiction for the non-controlled areas has been
transferred;

17.4. the Ukrainian authorities to review and reconsider Ukraine’s
derogation from the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights on a regular
basis with respect to necessity, proportionality and non-discrimination;

17.5. the international community to continue focusing on the
human rights and humanitarian situation of the people living in
the territories of Ukraine not under the control of the Ukrainian
authorities and refrain from placing demands on Ukraine which would
cement the unlawful status quo if fulfilled;

17.6. the ICC to exercise its jurisdiction to the extent that
is legally possible following the declarations filed by Ukraine.

18. The Assembly resolves to continue observing the human rights
situation in the conflict zone in the Donbas region and in Crimea
as a matter of priority.